Area I

Judaism is one of the oldest monotheistic religions in the world. Abraham (circa 1900 BCE) is hailed as the father of the Jewish people, who made a covenant with God. The second and chief covenant was made 450 years later when Moses led the Jews out of slavery in Egypt back to the lands of Canaan. During their journey, Moses received from God the Ten Commandments and other rules to live by. Subsequently, for 1000 years, various prophets such as Isaiah, Ezekial and Jeremiah sought to restore the spiritual life of the Jewish people.  Jewish kingdoms were established and fell, but after the destruction by the Romans of the Second Temple, by the 2nd century AD Judaism had been largely stamped out in Palestine and the Jews exiled. Jewish life, however, continued to be vigorously practiced in its main areas of concentration in Europe, northern Africa, and later in the Americas.

In Judaism, the oneness of existence is understood as the basis of religious thinking. God is the only Being with an absolute reality. Human beings are His creation and everything is an expression of His Glory. The perception of equal respect and dignity of all human beings is also very much an essential value in Judaism. According to Talmud Shabbat, “What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor”.  Also, the whole story of Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt is a story of human liberation, and God’s concern and love for all human beings. Moreover, many of the Ten Commandments relate specifically to people treating each other with equal respect and dignity.

One can infer that the whole story of the Journey of the Israelites from Egypt to the Promised Land is a story of the intrinsic relationship between human beings and the natural and cosmic environment around them. It is also a story of all the challenges and hardships we all face in our own journey through life, here on earth, and that at times God does intervene to help us, and that miracles do happen.